All eyes turned to England last week to see the opening weekend of the Premier League in full swing. Many Englishmen would have hoped for an exciting start to the season with plenty of goals in the ten games. Luckily, the weekend did not disappoint. It saw decisive hammerings, tense conflicts, and heartbreak. All in a day’s work for football then. Those who missed the games last weekend will have missed out themselves as most were exciting for the neutral to watch, but they need not worry as the action will be relayed here.
The first game of the Premier League saw Arsenal take on Brentford at home, with Brentford taking a convincing 2-0 win. For those not up to date on English football, Brentford are a team who have been recently promoted, so for them to defeat Arsenal is a great achievement. It would not come to the shock of those Arsenal fans at the game who have, in recent years, begun to expect these kinds of performances. The team currently has a lacklustre squad despite signing Ben White in the transfer window, but the problem may also run deeper, and some fans claim that that the manager is not up to the job. Arsenal will need to regroup ahead of their next game with European champions Chelsea.
Saturday saw another round of great games between clubs that wanted to make a clear statement of intent on their opening games. Watford was another newly promoted club that managed to beat an established Premier League side against the odds. They managed a 3-2 win over Aston Villa with Watford scoring the first 3 goals of the match. Although Aston Villa have seen the departure of Jack Grealish, many were still expecting them to come away from the win. An epic clash could also be seen on Saturday when Leeds United came to visit Manchester United. United ended up winning 5-1 with a masterclass of assists by Paul Pogba, who looked like a different footballer compared to his past seasons. On the day, they were simply too much for Leeds who left themselves open too many times. More goals were also seen as Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 3-0. Only one other opening weekend has seen more goals, the 2003-04 season.
Two games were played on Sunday. West Ham saw off Newcastle United 4-2, but the game on everyone’s lips would have no doubt been Tottenham Hotspurs vs Manchester City. Everyone in the footballing world knows Manchester City are one of the hottest teams right now and were expected to take the win over the declining Spurs. However, the night told a different tale and Spurs came on top with a curling shot slotted bottom-right by Heugh-Min Son. The result is just what Spurs needed when facing a future without ace striker Harry Kane, who is looking increasingly likely to leave the club. The odds of Kane going to City stand at 4/7, but those who have had enough of betting might find more enjoyment playing casino games at many here. In any case, only time will tell if the Spurs man stays put.
The weekend saw a lot of action in the Premier League and is indicative of the season to come. With performances like these, English football fans will be in for a treat over the coming year.
